Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Djokovic falls in second round of Paris Masters

PARIS -- Weakened by medication after dental surgery, U.S. Open finalist Novak Djokovic lost to Fabrice Santoro 6-3, 6-2 Wednesday in the second round of the Paris Masters.

Djokovic had two wisdom teeth pulled after the Madrid Masters in October.

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"I wasn't moving well," the third-ranked Serb said. "Santoro took over the control. I was having all the unforced errors and making free points for him. Unfortunately I couldn't give my 100 percent -- not even 30 percent."

Djokovic, who returned to training Monday, lost to David Nalbandian in the Madrid Masters semifinals.

Rafael Nadal defeated Filippo Volandri 6-3, 6-1 to reach the third round. Nadal, ranked No. 2, will next play Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, who beat Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3, 6-1.

"I'm happy with my serve," Nadal said. "I made some mistakes at the start, but after that I played very well."

Andy Murray beat Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 7-6 (5), 6-3 to stay in contention for the season-ending Masters Cup in China. He will next face Santoro.

Murray, who won his third career title at St. Petersburg, Russia, on Sunday, trailed 3-1 in the second set but broke Nieminen three straight times.

Only two of eight spots remain for the Shanghai event, with James Blake and Richard Gasquet among those in contention.

Gasquet rallied from 4-1 down in the first set to beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-5, 7-6 (3). The sixth-seeded Blake was scheduled to face Nicolas Mahut of France.

No. 13 seed Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia saw his slim Shanghai hopes end after a 6-4, 7-6 (4) loss to Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, who next plays defending champion Nikolay Davydenko.

The fourth-seeded Davydenko beat Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina 7-6 (3), 6-1, but is hampered by a sore elbow.

"It's not really 100 percent," he said. "I'm really scared. You cannot practice very well and you cannot prepare for the tournament."

Later, Roger Federer was to play Ivo Karlovic. Federer has qualified for Shanghai, along with Nadal, Djokovic, Davydenko, Andy Roddick and David Ferrer.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press


Source: ESPN.com

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